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Leafs’ Morgan Rielly’s 5-game suspension affirmed by Gary Bettman – The Athletic

Published

7 months ago

February 20, 2024

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman affirmed Morgan Rielly’s five-game suspension Tuesday afternoon for his cross-check to the head of Ottawa’s Ridly Greig.

In an 11-page ruling, which followed a one hour and 45-minute hearing last week with members of Toronto’s management and representatives from the NHLPA, Bettman ultimately agreed with the NHL Department of Player Safety’s initial decision.

“Based on my review of the video,” Bettman wrote, “I find that Mr. Rielly’s actions were not merely careless or reckless, they were intentional.”

The NHL commissioner suggested that Rielly’s suspension may have been even longer had it not been for his previously clean record.

According to Bettman, Rielly argued that while his cross-check on Greig was intentional, he did not “aim” for the head. That didn’t matter, in Bettman’s estimation, because “the fact remains that Mr. Rielly raised his stick to the level of Mr. Greig’s head and neck and drove it forcefully and intentionally into Mr. Greig as Mr. Rielly skated into Mr. Greig.”

Nor did the commissioner buy Rielly’s contention that he mitigated the force of the cross-check by taking one hand off his stick.

He also dismissed as “utterly irrelevant” the contention from Rielly, as well as Leafs GM Brad Treliving and team president Brendan Shanahan, that Greig’s slapshot into an empty net was “provocative.”

“Mr. Rielly’s actions were not undertaken in self-defense,” Bettman wrote. “They were not accidental and they were not reflexive.”

Rielly, Bettman wrote, had time to consider his actions and could have engaged him differently, “e.g., with a push or a shove or even by dropping his gloves to fight. Had he done so, there likely would have been no need for supplementary discipline.”

Arguing that Rielly deserved fewer games, the NHLPA cited four comparable suspensions that drew less: Alex Chiasson (one game); Jeff Skinner (three); Blake Lizotte (one); and Evander Kane (one playoff game).

Bettman disagreed. The level of “force” and “predatory behavior” warranted five games.

The commissioner also didn’t buy that David Perron’s six-game suspension wasn’t comparable for Rielly and even cited the Jason Spezza suspension he reduced (to four games from six) — “conduct of a lesser nature by another Player who engaged in reckless (but not intentional) conduct” — as reason that the “suspension here could well have been higher.”

Rielly argued that Greig’s actions were “disrespectful” to the Leafs but also disavowed, according to Bettman, “suggestions that have been made publicly by others that his actions were somehow appropriate.”

“It is my hope and expectation,” Bettman wrote, “that the events leading to this suspension were an aberration that will not be repeated.”

The Leafs have gone 4-0-0 without Rielly.

The 29-year-old will serve the final game of his suspension in Arizona on Wednesday night. He’ll be eligible to return when the Leafs visit Vegas on Thursday.

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(Photo: Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.

Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.

World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.

The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.

Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.

The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.

Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively

Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.

It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.

Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.

The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.

Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.

The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.

Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.

San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.

Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.

Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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